The beast lunged, head snapping forward. Lips peeled back over fangs brown with aged blood as a light flashed at the back of her throat.
I tried to lunge forward and beneath the beast, but my legs tangled and I fell, sprawling under her. Grasping blindly for my strange blade, I drew it from nowhere and slashed upwards.
I was rewarded with a shriek of pain as the pink above me lunged upwards. Great wings snapped out to catch the great dragoness mid-jump.
"I'll squash you like a bug!" Great forepaws came down, enveloped in shadows that hit the ground. Rumbling like thunder, the crash was followed with a wave of shadow exploding forth and forming into a swarm of individual shadows. Those shadows fought themselves into existence, rushing at me.
Gritting teeth, I stood, whipping into an awkward spin and bringing the blade along with me. The shadows I slashed in half dissolved, forming into films of dark mist.
A great tail swiped forth, whip like, blade about to literally cut my feet from under me. Bunching haunches, I pushed forward, curling into an awkward ball. Throwing my weight forward, I spiraled and rolled under the sleek scythe.
Scrambling to my feet, I growled, lunging forward, only for a paw to slam into my torso, shoving me back. Tripping, I barely managed to catch myself and lurch back to my feet.
The dragoness glared at me, eyes slitted. "Give up and die," her voice hissed. Raising her head, her open mouth glowed a sickly green.
And then the giant key moved on its own. Jerking my arms upward, the thing's tip began to glow with undefined, light magic. Before I knew what I was doing, I growled a word I'd never heard before.
"Fira!"
The white tip glimmered red, and fire burst forth, shooting forward and hitting the great dragon straight in the maw. I knew the poison was flammable, but I hadn't foreseen the tiny explosion that burst in her mouth. Screaming agony, the great dragon's eyes hardened with fury. Darkness gathered around her as she slammed forepaws to glass, darkness sweeping forth from them and enveloping the floor.
It wrapped around me, dragging me down. Pressing into myself, I curled into a ball, painfully reminded of how this resembled when I had been changed.
'Don't be afraid…'
'You hold the greatest weapon of all.'
'And don't forget… You are the one who can lead the way…'
'Your journey has begun.'
I jolted awake, shaking. Outside the cave, the sky flashed with thunder.
The calm before the storm had shattered.
…
Far away, beyond the far-stretching reaches of the universe, a duck marched the morning corridors of another world. But not just any duck; this duck had hands, a smart blue outfit, and a rather ridiculous magician's hat.
In a great palace of white-washed walls and plush red carpets, the absurd duck plodded proudly to a gigantic white door. With a knock and a pompous cough, he entered.
"Good morning, Your Majest…" His voice faded when he saw the golden throne at the far end of the room was vacant; the only living being in the room was a yellow dog, its face poking out from behind the throne. With great, doleful black eyes, the dog crept out of its hiding place and carried a letter to the white duck, pushing it into his hand.
The duck's eyes flitted over the envelope, noticing the king's mouse-head seal with both curiosity and a budding feeling of dread. Opening the letter, his eyes darted across the page, widening.
A moment later, the absurd duck exploded out of the throne room at a dead sprint, a sort of quacking wail emitting from his bill.
The king's chief of security was awoken from a nice nap by the same absurd duck screaming in his face. The humanoid dog was used to it by now, but it was still never a pleasant way to awaken.
"Wake up, Goofy, wake up! This is serious!"
The dog however, only drifted back into sleep before he could even blink his eyes open.
Positively growling, the duck raised one finger, a single bolt of lightning arching from the sky and striking Goofy, who wailed as he was thrown into the air. Getting up, he looked at Donald balefully. "Hey there, Donald. G'morning…"
"We got a problem, Goofy!" the duck wailed desperately. "But don't tell anyone!"
However, the dog's eyes were focused somewhere behind Donald. "Queen Minnie?"
"No! Not even the queen!"
"Daisy?"
"No! It's top secret!"
"G'morning, ladies!" Goofy interrupted, leaning around the duck and raising a hand.
Stunned, Donald fell silent at the sound of a soft intake of breath and turned to see the two ladies in question looking at him, arms crossed and eyebrows raised. Clearly, they had heard every word.
"Uhhh…" Donald knew he had no choice now.
'Donald,
Sorry to rush off without sayin' goodbye, but there's big trouble brewin'. Not sure why, but the stars have been blinking out, one by one. And that means disaster can't be far behind. I hate to leave you all, but I've gotta go to check into it. There's someone with a 'key'—a key to our, and every other world's survival. So I need you and Goofy to find him, and stick with him. Got it? We need that key, or we're doomed! Go to Traverse Town and find Leon. He'll point you in the right direction.
P.S. Would ya apologize to Minnie for me? Thanks, pal.'
Now in the palace's library, the mouse queen and Daisy finished reading over the letter. The queen's eyes lingered a little longer on the king's seal at the end, a simple mark reminiscent of the shape of his head.
"Oh dear… What could this mean?" Daisy asked no one in particular.
Minnie sighed, placing a hand over her heart and seeming to draw strength from it. "It means that we'll just have to trust the king."
Raising one armored hand to his mouth, Goofy sighed. "Gawrsh… I sure hope he's all right."
"Your highness," Donald interrupted, his eyes on Minnie, "don't worry! We'll find him, and this 'key'!"
"Thank you, both of you." The little mouse's eyes glimmered with hope.
Donald looked to Daisy, "Daisy, can you look after her?"
"Of course, we will look after each other," she said. "Be careful now. Both of you."
"Oh!" Minne gasped, as though she had remembered something she had almost forgotten. "And to chronicle your travels, he will accompany you."
For an instant, the to-be travelers were perplexed, looking around for their unknown companion. Then a small blur met their eyes, green and tiny, bouncing on the corner of the desk in the centre of the room. It was some sort of cricket that had decided to wear a coat, a dusky blue top hat, and stand upright. "Over here!"
The little insect dipped his hat to the two, "Cricket's the name! Jiminy Cricket, at your service!"
Donald looked like he was about to pass comment on the unexpected companion, but Minnie began speaking before he had the chance. "We pray for your safe return. Please help the king…"
Donald straightened smartly, holding one hand to his chest. His gaze swept over the mouse queen, the beautiful, duck lady Daisy, and…Goofy? The humanoid dog saluted sharply with much clanking of armor, his expression serious. With an indignant quack, Donald lurched forward and grabbed him by the upper arm.
"You're coming too!"
Minutes later, the two stepped into the gummi hangar—the castle's ship-dock—in the middle of conversation.
"Gawrsh, Jiminy…" Goofy said in an unusually melancholic voice, "your world disappeared, too?"
The little cricket sighed from his perch atop Goofy's head. "It was terrible. We were scattered. And as far as I can see, I'm the only one who made it to this castle…"
"Goofy," Donald said, "you best be careful to be inconspicuous when we're in other worlds."
For a minute Goofy was lost, "Incogspicius?" The duck only scowled. "Oh wait, I gotcha! You mean when we're on other worlds we can't let on where we're from. We gotta protect the world border!"
"Order!" The duck corrected stiffly. "I've got spells on us already that'll make no one take not of how we may be different. IT should help some, but if you go blabbing your mouth…"
"Right, world order!"
Together they strode down the dark corridor and towards the ship that would soon take them far beyond their world's border, Goofy's next words hanging thoughtfully in the still air.
"Guess we'll need new duds when we get there!"
Into a room of high bricks walls and giant, whirring cogs, the pair strode over to what looked like the speaker part of a trombone. Donald quacked into it, his rash voice travelling up the bronze pipe. "Hello, up there! Donald Duck to launch crew! Anytime you're ready!"
Those words were heard by two chipmunks inside a small control-room of sorts. Saluting smartly, they eagerly went about their duties, tugging down levers and pressing glowing buttons. A giant hand extended from the roof to carry both Donald and Goofy—upside down—to the waiting gummi ship. Only when they were safely seated in the cockpit did Donald raise his hand towards the doors of the hangar and cry out, "Blast off!"
It was not the dramatic exit Donald was hoping for. Instead of blasting impressively through the doors and out into the galaxy, the floor opened up beneath them and the ship fell into darkness, its occupants screaming all the way. Then, the hangar was left in the silence.
Moments later, a colorful ship tumbled out into space and rocketed off into the black, star-strewn heavens.
Sora
In his bed, Sora was thinking about Kairi, not an uncommon pastime for him.
"I just can't wait…" he remembered her saying. "Once we set sail… It'll be great!"
"Sora! Almost time for dinner!" His mother's voice reverberated throughout the house. Sora sighed, looking outside. A storm…?
He lazed about for another minute, before his eyes widened. The raft!
The boy vaulted out the window without a second thought. Honestly, all three of them were in the habit of using them more than doors.
"Sora, dinner's ready!" The voice grew perplexed. Her food was good, and generally any mention of food on the table would always bring the brunette boy running. But there was no sign of him. "Sora?"
Meanwhile, Sora docked his boat and pulled himself onto the island, glancing up concernedly at a budding orb of dark power in the heavens. It sent chills up his spine.
Kairi
She didn't know why she crawled into the secret place. The thunder was worse, cracking only feet above the treetops, and her hair was so wet it would have to be wrung out like a towel. The shadows seemed to be lengthening, writhing like they were alive, and somehow sending her stomach into nausea.
Green eyes glimmered in the darkness, reflective like a cat's, and for a minute Kairi froze in sheer terror, shaken to the bones. Those eyes weren't human.
A figure ran to her in the gloom, and she sighed in pure relief when she recognized Cynder. She already knew the girl was something else, but what? She felt so weak. She'd hope to find sanctuary here, but sheer power was ripping through the place, disorienting, draining the little strength she had left.
Cynder ran to her, reflective eyes wide with concern. Supporting the girl, she brought her farther into the cavern. The redhead was shaking like a leaf, and Cynder shook herself.
She isn't Myst. No matter how similar she seems, she isn't!
"Shh, shh, it's okay," she murmured gently, "we're going to be fine." Things she would have murmured to Myst had she had the chance…
"What's happening?" Kairi's voice was cracked and weak, her eyes wide and staring. Something about the darkness didn't agree with her, causing this violent reaction, whatever it was.
"I don't know… I just don't know…" It was all Cynder could say, and silence followed. She held onto the girl, grim determination in her eyes.
This time I'm not going to let go…
Sora
Glancing down at the dock he stood upon, Sora's eyes widened at seeing two painfully-familiar boats. Riku and Kairi are here!
The island was cloaked in shadows that sent chills up his spine. Splotches of a deeper darkness emerged; lidless, yellow, piercing eyes blinking into existence.
The creatures from my dream!
One of the gangly, almost infantine creatures lunged at him, and he slashed forward with his practice sword, but it passed through as if the creature were naught but black fog. However, another's claw slashed at his leg, clipping it and drawing forth a line of ruby blood. They were substantial all right, and he couldn't harm them. Gritting teeth at the sting in his leg, the blue-eyed islander bolted, blindly rushing towards where the raft should be.
He didn't have much of a choice, though; the beasts kept appearing, forcing him to about-turn and race the other way as black talons whistled not inches behind. Soon, he came to a stop, relieved, a familiar figure in front of him. His back was turned, but the silvery hair was a dead giveaway. For a moment, Sora had never been gladder to see Riku.
"Where's Kairi? I thought she was with you!" The panicked brunette asked frantically.
"The door…has opened…" Riku sounded exhausted, tired, almost drunk.
"What?"
"The door has opened, Sora!" When the ivory-haired teen turned, his eyes were blurred, confused and certain all at the same time. "Now we can go to the outside world!"
"What're you talking about?" The brunette's fists clenched. "We have to find Kairi and Cynder!"
"Kairi's coming with us!"
'Does he even realize she's not here?' Sora thought, flinching as icy, azure eyes bore into him, lacking their usual hint of warmth.
"Once we step through, we might not be able to come back." Darkness writhed in the white-haired boy's shadow. "We may never see our parents again… There's no turning back."
He seemed unable to grasp why this would matter. Sora was scared for his friend; this wasn't him—while he had always seen his goal as first and foremost in his life, he seemed to have lost the thought that other things mattered at all.
"But still, this might be our only chance! We can't let fear stop us! I'm not afraid of the darkness! I'm not afraid of anything!"
The young man looked at Sora, holding out one gloved hand, an invitation, a challenge—something Sora had seen many times from his best friend. "Riku…"
That was when the ground erupted into a hornet's nest of flickering shadows, writhing into twirling vipers that wound around and latched onto his friend.